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Demos Amiga Demoscene Archive Forum / Searching for... / Presenting a brand-new game and looking for collaborators

 

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saimo
Member
#1 - Posted: 22 Sep 2006 16:37
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Hi everybody,

since late 2004 I have been working almost without pause at a brand-new game (working title: "uniVERSUS") which, I hope, should appeal to many.
The point I'm at now is critical, as I badly need a pixeller and a level designer - without them, the project would just die -, so that's why I'm announcing this here. Actually, since the game has four different kinds of graphics (backgrounds, sprites, cutscenes and terminal GUIs), the work can be done also by several graphicians (but, of course, no more than one pixeller per kind), provided they can make their styles match/blend nicely.
Anybody who wants and is able to seriously commit himself/herself to a demanding yet very interesting and promising project is invited to contact me privately (email: saimobvq*interfree,it). I will answer to each and every application and, of course, I will eventually choose those who impress me most and with whom communication is easier (obviously, people from my country have an advantage in this regard).

Now, I guess that such an announcement would be rather uninteresting if I did not disclose any other information, right? ;)
Well, here's a sort of manifesto; please read carefully, it may be worth it...

***

uniVERSUS is a vertical shoot'em-up which aims at being highly innovative while sporting, at the same time, a great "oldskool" style - in a nutshell, it wants to be a "retro-innovative" game.
It is created with passion, love, careful handcraftmanship and a touch of bedroom-coding insanity; it features fresh ideas never seen before in the genre; it is based on and enriched by complex techniques and mechanics, which, however, do not affect playability in a negative way as the gameplay is engineered to let the player always feel in command and truly enjoy the progress through carefully designed levels.
It targets both newbies and experts of this semi-forgotten genre and, even if the reasons will be inevitably different, it hopes to provide both with lots of pure fun.

uniVERSUS is intended to be released commercially for AmigaOS 4, Linux, MacOS X, Windows XP and possibly other platforms (with AmigaOS 4 receving a "special treatment" as a helping push in this difficult moment).
[Note that, although developed mainly on AmigaOS 4, uniVERSUS is constantly tested on other platforms as well, so this is not just wishful thinking.]

The code is in a very, very advanced state but, unfortunately, that's about all. In fact, in this demo:
* the very few and short levels are meant to just test the code and in no way are representative of the final playability;
* most of the graphics are temporary;
* audio is completely absent;
* the management part is incomplete;
* joypads/joysticks are not supported;
* there is no configuration utility;
* some parts are incomplete;
* there may well be nasty bugs ;)
For these reasons, this demo does not really show all the potential already present, so it is absolutely recommended to read thoroughly the included design documentation.

***

Those who aren't happy with just words (who can blame them? not me, certainly!) can surf to http://saimobvq.interfree.it/uniVERSUS/index.html and download a WIP demo for both AOS4 and Windows. It is very important, however, to keep in mind that the lack of decent graphics and proper levels does not allow the demo to show the real potential, so I absolutely recommed to read carefully the enclosed design documentation.

Enjoy, and remember that my mailbox is ready to be crammed by your applications ;)
saimo

P.S. This is already being discussed on AW.net (http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php ?topic_id=20607&forum=15). Since it would be demanding for me to follow several threads (as inevitably I would end up being asked the same questions), I'd like to ask you to partecipate, if possible, to the discussion over there. Thank you.
figureforgotten
Member
#2 - Posted: 27 Sep 2006 03:26
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commercial stuff is something im interested in doing( this would be my first time)
i currently dont have a portfolio or website, but you can visit my pixeljoint account:
http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixels/profile.asp?id=33 04
saimo
Member
#3 - Posted: 27 Sep 2006 15:25
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@figureforgotten

I looked at the gallery: sure it shows you can draw with few colors.
Have you got anything else to show? Can you send me other examples by email?
How much time would you be able to *guarantee*? What kind of effort?
Thank you.


@thread

Thanks to the heads-up of a user, I realized that in the previous release I gave only generic indications as regards the controls. This has probably caused troubles to those who bothered checking out the demo and maybe did not even make them enjoy it to the fullest. I'm very sorry about that. It is now available for download a new version that shows the list of controls right at the beginning. Among other (small) things, it also:
- fixes a bug that would cause the game to suddenly quit under Windows;
- allows to choose whether to use the clones once and for all from the main configuration file (in the file uniVERSUS/data/miscellaneous/configuration.txt, the "CLONES_MODE" line accepts the values: "ask", "always" and "never").

A couple of additional hints:
- since the game simulates physics, the first times it may be difficult to play; the spaceship called "F-L-A-S-H" mounts a special braking device that makes life a lot easier;
- for those who want to get to the action almost immediately, this is an example of settings for the abovementioned configuration.txt file:

KEY.UP up
KEY.DOWN down
KEY.LEFT left
KEY.RIGHT right
KEY.SELECT tab
KEY.FIRE0 x
KEY.FIRE1 space
KEY.SPIN s
VIDEO_MODE fullscreen
HERO_NAME Isao Ota
CUTSCENES_MODE never
RECRUITMENT_MODE never
CLONES_MODE always

Enjoy,
saimo
figureforgotten
Member
#4 - Posted: 27 Sep 2006 22:51
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i think i could guarentee 30 min a day, but i could probably spend 45 minutes on it. graphics done for something like this would only be done with optimal effort, i wouldnt think to do anything less than that.
unfortunately, theres not much that i dont have in that gallery other than things not worth showing.
saimo
Member
#5 - Posted: 28 Sep 2006 14:08
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@figureforgotten

Unfortunately that would be too little, given the big amount of graphics needed. Thank you anyway.

saimo
saimo
Member
#6 - Posted: 28 Nov 2006 17:08
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@thread

Hi again,

I'd like to inform you that the currently available version now features the following improvements with respect to that released at the time of the announcement:
*the spaceport is now 99% complete: spaceships can be built from the scratch, parts can be bought/sold/mounted/dis-mounted/re-mounted, etc.;
*there are new weapons and spaceship setups;
*there is a brand new scenario (Lithlet);
*joystick/joypad support has been added;
*finally there is a configuration utility;
*lots of internal improvements, bugfixes, etc.

You can download the latest versions from the website, where you can also find a new section showing many screenshots.

Unfortunately, development has slowed down considerably (practically stopped) in the last two weeks because of lack of collaborators - honestly, it looks like the project is going to die soon. I'd love if you could help in any useful way to keep it alive.

Cheers,
saimo
figureforgotten
Member
#7 - Posted: 6 Dec 2006 02:48
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i NEW i noticed your name from somewhere! you joined pixelation recently. over there im ryumaru.

sorry to be off topic in your thread, its just that your handle felt so familiar and i couldnt understand why.
saimo
Member
#8 - Posted: 8 Dec 2006 00:53
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Yeah, that's me ;)

saimo

 

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